Despite strained relations between Israel and Turkey, trade between the two countries continues to grow, a Turkish press report says. The website Today’s Zaman reported, citing the Turkish Statistics Institute, that the countries’ trade in 2014 was valued at $5.6 billion, more than double the $2.6 billion posted for 2009. The latest trade figure consisted of $2.9 billion of Turkish exports to Israel and $2.7 billion of imports from Israel. Turkey’s key exports include iron and steel, electrical machinery, vehicles, minerals and textiles. Turkey’s opposition parties had called on the government to revise its trade policies with Israel after the country’s seven-week summer 2014 war with Hamas in Gaza, the website reported. Ties became particularly strained after 10 Turks were killed in a 2009 confrontation between the Israeli navy and a Turkish flotilla seeking to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. (TheMarker)

Rekah Pharma inks joint control pact

Rekah Pharmaceutical Industry, which has been owned by Mordechai and Georgette Elbrabli, has signed an agreement with FIMI, the Israeli private-equity fund, for joint ownership of the company. FIMI is investing 80 million shekels (about $21 million) for a 42.6% stake in the company, at least at first, reflecting a 188-million-shekel market cap for the Holon-based company after the investment and an 80% premium over its market price. Shares of Rekah jumped 8.5% in Monday’s trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The Elgrablis will retain the authority to appoint the company’s CEO while FIMI will appoint Rekah’s chairman. (Dror Reich)

Palestinian food producers plying wares at Dubai food fair

A dozen Palestinian foods companies, producing dates, ice cream, meat and other products, are represented at Gulfood 2015, a trade show at the World Trade Center in the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai this week. Executives told Gulfnews that the Palestinian companies are making high-quality and competitive products but must better get the word out to broaden their customer bases. Palestinian Authority companies rely on gatherings like Gulfood to market their wares because Israel restricts their travel, the report said, citing Palestinian business executives. Distribution costs from the PA are also higher, they said, because products destined for the U.S. and Europe must be exported through Israel, while exports set for Arab countries must first be sent overland to Jordan. (TheMarker)

Brenmiller Energy to build 20-hour-a-day solar field

Tel Aviv-based Brenmiller Energy said on Monday it will build a 300-million-shekel ($77.3 million) solar-power field using an energy-storage technology that will generate electricity for about 20 hours a day. The 10-megawatt field, to be built on about 110 acres in Dimona in the south, will combine existing solar thermal technology with an underground system that stores heat for use at night. Brenmiller Energy said it hopes to complete the field in early 2017 and then sell electricity through the grid. During the four hours of the day that solar energy is insufficient, the company said it will use biomass to produce power. A spokesman said Brenmiller Energy will fund the project itself, in part to help promote the system to clients worldwide. Avi Brenmiller, president and CEO, was a co-founder and chief executive of Solel Solar, a producer of concentrated solar-power fields, which Siemens bought in 2009 for $418 million. (Reuters)

TASE shares lower; euro drops to 12-year low

Shares traded generally lower on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on Monday against the backdrop of concern that Greece was heading for a confrontation with European financial institutions over the new Greek government’s desire to rethink the country’s austerity program. While the dollar strengthened on the day, the euro plummeted by 1.1% against the shekel to a representative rate of 4.386, a 12-year low. The benchmark Tel Aviv-25 index declined by 0.27% to 1,458.10 points while the Tel Aviv-100 dropped by 0.16% to 1,284.90. Trading volume was nearly 1.2 billion shekels ($309 million). Notable share gainers included Opko Health, up 6%, and Analyst IMS Investment, up 5.4%. Losers included Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, off 2.2%, and Bezeq, down 2.1%. (Eran Azran)